


footfalls of introverted puppies

by euridamelia



Category: Chungha (Musician), NCT (Band)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, God Bless Furball Bestfriends, Hurt/Comfort, In Memory of Ruby the Angel, Soft Hours for Soft People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29373651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euridamelia/pseuds/euridamelia
Summary: After the dynamic stage collaboration that shook the entire 3rd generation fans, Kim Chungha and Lee Taeyong rose exponentially in popularity and have become the hottest young k-pop stars in the industry. But as their careers and experiences grew, their friendly acquaintance have also grown distant to the point of nonexistence.But when an unlikely birthday party caused the two introverts to cross paths once again, the awkwardness between them resurfaced as well.(Oneshot)
Relationships: Kim Chungha/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	footfalls of introverted puppies

**Author's note: let's just pretend that COVID-19 never happened.. okay? lmao**

**BTW, if y'all confused, I decided to use Chungha's real name (Kim Chanmi) here. Please don't confuse her with Chanmi from AOA. Hahahahah**

* * *

It's supposed to be a merged birthday celebration.. But she doesn't even know what the hell she's doing here.

Kim Chanmi squirms against her seat. The intoxicated young pair beside her already have their shirts riding up their waists when they continue their torrid tongue-locking session. The girl is sitting on the boy's lap, completely horny and uncaring - and she can't, for the life of her, understand their level of confidence to actually do this in the middle of a huge, huge, wild party of well-known celebrities. While it's true that she grew up in a much more open country, she still can't get used to public displays no matter how adult she has become.

She stands up and leaves the two to do their thing. Squeezing her way in between boisterous drunk boys and skimpy-clad girls, she sees a glass door that leads to God-knows-where. She hurriedly reaches for its handle before anyone sees her escape.

Honestly, she just wants to go home and watch another episode of Busted on Netflix with a nice hot mug of cocoa and a sleeping Bambi in her arms, or.. anything that doesn't involve booze and sex and icky, smelly bodies pressed against each other. But she has unknowingly agreed to an invitation that Johnny slyly made in passing when he ran up to her as if he was going to the same direction as she was during the chaotic hurly burly of Inkigayo's backstage two weeks ago. She hates her inability to lie when he asked if she was doing anything on _their_ birthday.

Her mom's currently in Singapore and she's not going to be back until next week, DIA's Chaeyeon and her beloved IOI girls are increasingly busy nowadays, her dancer unnies are practicing for their "Stay Tonight" comeback (but they are literally forcing her to enjoy and indulge herself on her special day), Manager Jinah has some family errands to attend to, and even Sunmi-unnie has a recording session.. So.

Imagine the brightness of the Chicago boy's smile when she said she's just going to spend her birthday with a glass of wine and a nice movie in her house _by herself_.

She slides the door open and steps out to a wide-spaced balcony garden. The floor stretches with perfectly manicured greenery of grass, and a stone walkway leading to a wooden bench at the far end. Potted trees with blooming pink and white flowers are arranged along the railings. She can see unlit European lamp posts on either side of the bench, but she doesn't make a move to look for the switch because the moon above is bright and magnificent enough, the city lights below look breathtaking, and everyone's too busy hooking up and getting shitfaced inside the bar to even think about the nice cold air whipping against her bare arms.

Thanks to SM's well-planned architecture, the blearing hip hop rave quietens when she closes the sliding door.

 _Perfect_ , Chanmi smiles.

Making her way towards the bench, she plops down and sighs, finally relaxing for the first time the entire night.

Forget about parties and talking to people she barely knows. Being here, surrounded by organic and natural elements as she turns a year older and hopefully wiser, is much better.

She inclines her head and raises her jean-clad legs up to her chest to stare at the stars. She can see Orion's belt, Big dipper, the planet Venus, Little Dipper..

.. but then a wayward chill reminds her that she forgot her jacket on the sofa inside. Beside Yuqi and Lucas. Who are probably still making-out or doing something more intense right now.

She shivers while hugging her legs closer to get some semblance of warmth. If she has to choose between going back in and turning into an ice sculpture, then she's willing to suffer for a bit.

After all, it's her fault that she's stuck in this situation anyway.

"Oh my goodness, it's soo cooooold." She grouses out loud. No one aside from her mom and closest friends have seen her in this whiny state. But who cares, right? It's not like anyone can hear her.

Or at least, that's what she thinks.

Because suddenly, a warm weight is suddenly draped around her shoulders.

She squints for a few seconds before turning around to see what it is.

Or to be more specific... _who._

 **"EEEEP!!!!"** Chanmi literally jumps out of her seat. The warm thing, that is actually a thick demin jacket, falls unceremoniously to the floor. She blinks rapidly and stares at the person standing behind the bench in utter shock, before managing a croaked "T-Taeyong sunbaenim?!"

The man nods calmly in greeting and replies, "Good evening, Chungha-sshi."

"Chung-?" She becomes confused for a moment, then she remembers that he is talking to her with her stage name. "O-oh.." She clutches her startled chest. He waits patiently while she tries to calm herself.

"Are you feeling better?"

She nods timidly.

"Sunbaenim.. I'm sorry but.. h-how long have you been standing there?"

He smiles at her gently, "Much earlier than you, if that's what you want to know."

"Oh, my goodness, I-" She buries her scarlet face in her hands. How did she not notice him when she first came here? How mortifying!

"It's okay." He walks around to pick the discarded clothing, then proceeds to wrap it around her. Chanmi can only manage a muffled "thank you" when he quietly gestures at her to sit down again.

He remains in his position as he looks to the distance, somehow lost in thought. She, on the other hand, is fidgeting uncomfortably.

After several minutes, it's getting harder to take the awkwardness anymore.

So, she breaks the silence. "Uhm, sunbaenim, do you want to sit?"

He turns to look at her, as if debating whether or not to take her offer. She lets out a small sigh of relief when he does, but he still maintains a respectful distance away.

They sit in silence once again. The dull sounds of the unwavering celebration and the metropolitan city night life of Seoul fill the empty space between them.

She remembers the very first time she saw him on stage when he was still a part of SM rookies, dancing and performing his entire heart and soul to the crowd as if his life depended on it. She was still a naive trainee back then, and so was he. She remembers finding him so exceptionally pretty to the point of being celestial, even so much prettier than herself. Even before his debut he had already caused so much havoc and chaos because his presence was oozing with charisma, very fiery and mysterious and intimidating, and there was a division of those who admired him and those who wanted to destroy him.

Even when she debuted in IOI, her attention has always secretly strayed to him, despite being visually attacked by beautiful and talented legendary sunbaes. More and more issues surrounded his life, and a lot of talk circulated and caused people to repel from him. Nevertheless, she finds herself gravitating further towards his axis, but she disliked the strange feeling of being attracted to notoriously beautiful but controversial strangers, so she kept it hidden in the darkest, most unreachable corners of her mind. She ignored his magnetism and focused on her bond with her girls, the competition, the pressure of the masses. It worked on her favor for a good while.

Chanmi almost smiles to herself when she remembers their first collaboration. It feels like it was so long ago, when she just debuted as a solo artist, and his own group was also quite new to the incredibly huge industry. As young as she was, her company gave her all the freedom to choose the artists she wanted to collab with as a mandatory privilege to their very first (and very freaking successful) soloist after IOI's disbandment. She tried to think of the array of artists that her company suggested to her, but she couldn't get one person off her mind.

The first time they talked was on their respective companies' phones. She couldn't even believe that he accepted her humble request, since she knew that he was the most sought after rookie (apart from his company being strict as hell) and that his schedule was heavily packed. But he did. She's not sure if it was his company's decision or his own, but either way she was both thankful and giddy and nervous like a school girl with a crush.

His lyrics to her song was very sweet and personal, too. She remembers feeling touched upon realizing that he must have researched about her, since he managed to profoundly capture the feelings she wanted to convey in her song despite preparing for a short period of time. But she did not have any time to think about it because the crowd had to be pleased, and maybe she was just looking into it too much when it was actually not that deep. They ended their stage with a blast, and she was stuck in such a blissful high that she even repeatedly thanked him and gushed about him to her fans in her vlive after she thanked him in person.

But the busy life of rising stars caught up with them and they never contacted each other again after that. She tried her best to not feel disappointed, because of course, they were just co-workers by the end of the day, and there were possessive fans to think about. That collaboration was only to boost each other's appeal to the population. They had dozens of photoshoots together, but he was quite indifferent and borderline antisocial outside work. They drifted further and further as they climbed up into their own ladders, with him promoting in dozens of rotational SM groups and her releasing one discography to another.

It was Johnny who asked for her number.

She and the latter became good friends. He's the easy-going, extroverted guy who's friends with everybody.

 _So why not Johnny?_ Her friends often ask.

It's not a secret that the JCC vlogger has a peculiar crush on her since her debut days. Her stylist constantly gushes that the number of famous idols that are simping for her increases day by day, especially when her "Gotta Go" and "Roller Coaster" songs became nationwide hits for several months. But Johnny's the most all-out with it. His other members' knowing looks during promotions and the suspicious number of times she's been invited to NCT's Night Night are blatant giveaways. Not to mention his random but timely texts and weekly coffee offers.

She lived in Dallas for a good amount of time to understand butterflies and bees, and his ways kind of remind her of the Texas boys who used to slide against her during middle school. So, needless to say, his methods aren't really as effective on her compared to the other Korean girls who aren't that used to the American way of flirting.

He's a good-looking and talented gentleman. And he's chivalrous not only to her, but to everyone regardless of gender. He's a bit on the experienced, smooth-talking side, but he's decent enough. They also have a lot of things in common since they both have their childhoods spent on a more westernized setting. She does respect him highly though, to a professional and friendly extent.

It's just that.. Maybe she's just not interested in emotional entanglement as of the moment? Relationships feel off and superficial nowadays. Her last (and only) relationship was a living proof of that, and she's too preoccupied and rational and careful to be bothered by unnecessary gossip that can lead to misconduct and complicated matters.

Cheetah-unnie and BoA-sunbaenim always remind her that for her to survive as a female soloist, she must do everything to steer herself away from dating scandals and such, most especially with male idols with huge fanbases. Girls in the industry are shamed worse than the boys, and one wrong move can mean her entire downfall.

She is so lost in thought that she doesn't notice how her companion is calling out to her.

Her eyes snaps open when soft fingers lightly brushes her arm. When she turns to him, his doe eyes looks rather panicked. "I'm sorry, I thought you fell asleep." He immediately retracts his hand as if he's electrocuted.

She manages to smile at him despite her inner workings, and this makes him smile too. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"Well, um.." She shifts the jacket closer to her as she stares at her black boots. "You see.. I'm not very fond of parties."

"Ah," He nods in understanding. "Me neither."

A stretch of silence envelops them once again, but at least it's much less tense than the last time.

"My puppy is sick."

She turns to him with wide, surprised eyes. She doesn't know how to reply to this sudden revelation, but she's giving her full attention now. This somehow encourages him to go on.

"She's been on the waters for a while now. But I thought it was just one of those things that disappears, you know? I thought she's going to get better. I've been around world tours, getting too busy to even call my family. Then I suddenly come home to find out that her condition is not.." He breathes deeply, finding it hard to even finish the last part of his sentence. He brushes his blond-dyed hair back with his hand, his back slouching further into the backrest. Chanmi studies his forlorn expression with an ache in her chest.

"What's her name?"

"Ruby." The way he says her name is so heartwarming, like his heart pours out all the love for his pet with every cell of his being. He has a beautiful smile on his lips but a sad look in his eyes, like it's so hard for him to accept the inevitable but he has to, even if it shatters his heart into millions of pieces. "She's in so much pain right now, but she's a brave little fighter. My family is discussing about.. Letting her rest, but.. I'm not sure if I'm ready for it.."

Chanmi feels so helpless and heartbroken for him. This is the first time they're _really_ talking, but she already wants to cry for him, since he isn't crying but he looks like he will any minute now.

But if he shares very personal things to a stranger like her, then maybe he desperately needs someone to vent to. Maybe she can help him by letting him talk and breathe.

"How many years have you been together with your Ruby, sunbaenim?"

Taeyong chuckles fondly. "My Ruby? I like how that sounds.. I got her when I was.. 15, I think. Around middle school."

She hums sympathetically in response.

"She's like my best friend. I used to tell her about my day, whether it was bad or good. She's such a comforting presence to our family. I tell her everything even though she can't talk like the way we do. Sometimes, I make songs about her because I want to let her know how proud and inspired I am with her." He laughs harder this time, getting a little embarrassed. "You must think I'm weird for talking to a dog and calling her my best friend when I am surrounded with dozens of good people. I mean, I'm actually always weird, but I hope you're not too creeped out."

"No, no.. of course not." She protests. "I.. actually think that our animal friends understand our feelings so much more than a lot of people give them credit for."

He falls quiet, thoughtful. "They definitely do. They're much more kind-hearted and sincere than some people, sometimes."

She agrees wholeheartedly.

"My.. my best friend is a fur baby too." She starts softly. "She's been with me through my darkest days. I don't know what I'd do without her." She bites her lower lip before casting a glance at the man beside her, only to find out that he's already staring at her with a soft expression.

"What's her name?"

"Bambi." She smiles, suddenly missing her little ball of energetic fur. "I think they're heaven sent to make us realize that we're loveable. Your Ruby is no exception, sunbaenim."

".. But sometimes I feel like I don't deserve Ruby's love at all. I only meet her so rarely nowadays, but she still comes to me and loves me so unconditionally." He shakes his head as if the dog's adoration confuses him greatly. "I even tattooed her on my arm. See?"

He raises his sleeve to show her a doodle of a small dog on his forearm.

She leans in to take a closer look, and coos. "That's so cute~"

He strokes the the tattoo lovingly with his index finger. He laughs despite himself, suddenly realizing that the conversation has become very endearing, earning a confused look from his companion.

"I thought of raising fishes, nowadays."

She nods. "Yeah?"

"I've been watching a lot of videos on how to properly set an aquarium, but I haven't really bought the materials for it yet. Maybe when our schedules clear a bit then I will probably order the filters and feeds soon."

She purses her lips. ".. I have never really taken care of fishes before. I want to try if I have time, but I'm scared I might kill them accidentally.."

He shrugs. "I think you will find fishes nice and relaxing. They're very chill and easy to take care as long as you maintain the cleanliness of their home." He grins at her. "Besides, I heard you like Animal Farm. You'll do well."

She finally laughs heartily this time.

Chanmi arrives into her house with zero alcohol in her system. It is already 2 am, but she feels a lot more refreshed and energized. She's about to step into the bathroom to wash herself when she receives a message with a picture of a cute little dog from an unknown number.

_thank you for tonight. you lightened up my worries and listened to me seriously.  
it's really nice talking to you.  
i'm sorry, i didn't know it was your birthday.  
johnny did not tell me that you are both born on the same day  
i just thought he invited you because he likes you, lol ~_

_  
you're still as kind as i remembered  
i could only wish i did better when we collaborated before.  
i really regret only preparing for two days and not giving you the best, because you deserve the best  
you're very powerful on stage. i often watch your performances.  
all of my members admire you very much.  
i hope that someday, when the time is right, we can collab again.  
i'd be excited to work with you in the future, both in music and taking care of fishies  
have the best life. happy birthday <3_

_-taeyong_


End file.
